David Livingston, one of the 1800’s most beloved personalities, is best remembered as an explorer. He was the first person know to traverse southern Africa, to see Victoria Falls, and to walk the length of the Nile River, discovering its origins. But Livingston’s autobiography documents a different identity. He saw himself primarily as a physician […]
Malaria, schistosomiasis, ascariasis, Chagas disease, Dengue fever. As a young physician, I was fascinated with these classic tropical diseases. Part of the reason was humanitarian. I was acutely aware that a multitude of humanity continue to suffer from these severe, often preventable maladies. Another part of my fascination was esoteric. These are illness is largely
Low-resource, cross-cultural healthcare will test your skills to the extreme. Begin by eliminating the options of comprehensive laboratory testing, advanced imaging, or even specialty consultations. Would you be able to care for these three patients correctly? 1. You are volunteering at a safety net clinic in Oklahoma City and seeing Erasto – a
Maria, the seven-year-old girl in this photo, presents to you at the Clinical Evangelica Morava on the remote western coast of Honduras. Her parents explain that five days ago she suddenly developed fever, vomiting, severe headache, and pain on moving her eyes. Several other children in the neighborhood have been similarly ill since the
What is the most dangerous day in a person’s entire life? Perhaps the one when a teenager receives his or her driver’s license, the first big college party event, rock climbing or back woods vacation? Worldwide data actually demonstrate that the highest risk of death – life’s most dangerous day – is the first
Malnutrition especially impacts pregnant women around the globe. The challenges of food security, poverty, anemia, malnutrition, low birth weight, and failure to thrive are all inextricably interwoven. Worldwide, the effect of protein-calorie malnutrition is correlated with low-birth-weight infants, maternal anemia, preterm labor, immune suppression, and loss of work productivity. Maternal causes of newborn low
The five-year-old child in this photo presents to your health center in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. History is obtained from family members, who explain that eight months ago their farm was attacked by bandits. The family has been on the move by foot since then, seeking asylum and being frequently harassed. No
One person out of three around the globe lives in a community with no access to a general surgeon. Often, people are separated from physicians with such skills by scores of miles or thousands of dollars. As a result, children, healthy adults and pregnant women die from typhoid intestinal perforations, femur fractures, and labor
Introducing Peter Hotez, my friend and today’s best known proponent of anti-poverty vaccines. Peter is an accomplished scientist and pediatric infectious disease specialist at Texas Children’s Hospital. A tactful, vocal proponent for policy and civic action on multiple health fronts, one of his most intriguing campaigns is to combat poverty through vaccination. The associations
Tragedy aptly describes the emotions surrounding the death of a pregnant woman. Until recently, grave markers in the United States frequently stated “died in childbirth.” And while such deaths have greatly diminished in North America, they remain frequent in the lower resource nations. Haitian women, for example, have a saying “I am going to sea